Generating sample data for testing purposes

Having sample data to test your transformations is very useful and allows you to move faster through your development and testing process. There are several cases where you will want to generate sample data, for example:

• To quickly populate datasets with random data

• Manually generate specific information

• Generate large volumes of custom data

Take a subset from a large volume of data. In this recipe you will learn how to generate a dataset with 100 random rows in different formats (integer, string, and dates). Then, in the There's more section, you will find alternative solutions for generating data for testing.

How to do it...

Carry out the following steps:

1. Create a new transformation.

2. Drop a Generate rows step from the Input category. Here, set the Limit textbox to 100.

3. Add a Generate random value step from the Input category. Add two elements to the grid: randomInteger of random integer type, and randomString of random string type.

4. Doing a preview on this...